Cry a thousand rivers
by AllOurWords
Summary: I bet you cant get a girl from another clique to sleep with you by the mayors ball" He proposed. "Any girl?" He asked. "No. We choose the girl, and i have just the person in mind." Slightly AU NH and BL
1. Loaded Dice

**Loaded dice.**

Tree hill high school, it was just like your high school. On paper, its purpose was education, in reality, it was all about socialising. At least to the people that mattered anyway.

It had its fair share of cliques, starting at the top there were the elite, then you had the run of the mill jocks and cheerleaders, followed by the drifters, the stoners, the nobody's and the nerds. It was a simple hierarchical chain that existed in every aspect of the world, from the food chain to the way a country was run, why should high school be any different?

The rules were simple, stick to norm, keep with your clique and everything would remain running as it should. And it worked perfectly for years, everything run smoothly as long as nobody upset the hierarchy.

And just like your high school the pupils that resided there were bored. And born from that emotion came the jaded proposal set up on that fatefal warm day from five teenagers who decided it was time to mess with the hierarchy.

Brooke Davis stretched her lean legs out across the bench; displaying a generous amount of her bronzed tan off to the 3 boys she sat with.

"I'm bored." She whined, directing a pout at her curly haired best friend who sat opposite her, letting the dark charcoal in her hand stain her fingertips as she furiously brushed it against the tattered crème pages of her art book. She puffed a blonde lock off her voice by exhaling her breath.

"That makes two of us." Nathan Scott declared as he eyed up a passing redhead in a tight white mini-skirt.

"Three." Jake and Vegas chimed in together as they studied Brooke's legs, not even bothering to note the jinx they made.

"So whose gonna do something about it?" She looked at all four other occupants of the table individually with her mischievous brown eyes, outlined in a thick coating of mascara and highlighted by a dark brush of eyeliner along the lids.

Jake responded with a shrug whilst Vegas muttered a crude proposition to her to which she responded to with a rude hand gesture of her own.

"I bet I could bang her." Nathan declared, watching as the girl in the white mini joined a group of girls and began to giggle, enjoying the attention being obviously bestowed upon her by a member of the elite gang.

"Well duh." Brooke sighed, flipping her dark locks over her shoulder and cringing at the unsubtle way which the girls behaved in. "It's pretty obvious from her reaction that it wouldn't be difficult."

"So?" He tore his blue eyes and focused his intense stare on her hazel eyes.

"So where's the fun in that?" She shrugged. Brooke Davis loved the chase, although she didn't have to do much running. Boys generally came to her, giving her whatever she wanted with a click of her manicured nails. "Don't you like the chase Nate?" She teased, running her tongue along her ruby red lips, enjoying the sensation of him watching its trail with fascination.

She let her tongue slip back into her mouth and his eyes snapped back into focus. "I wouldn't know." He smirked cockily, stretching out his long legs and reaching out his arm to let it rest on Peyton's shoulder. She shrugged out his touch and shot him a look of distaste before resuming her sketching. "Girls flock to me."

Brooke rolled her eyes at his attitude whilst he enjoyed a chuckle with the boys. "How tedious." She feigned a yawn.

"Well there's not a lot I can do about it Brooke." He snapped back at her, before slipping back into his usual cocky demeanour. "I can't help that I'm this hot. I'm irresistible to women."

"Not all women man." Jake commenting with a laugh.

"Lesbians?" Vegas chipped in, earning him a slap across the head from Brooke.

"No." She bit. "Just women with standards." She sniped, throwing Nathan a condescending smile which her smirked back at in return.

"Well then I guess that rules Peyton out." Vegas joked, earning him another slap across his shaven head, this time from the curly Blonde.

"What?" Jake broke in confused, darting a look between the other four who all seemed in on the joke.

"Peyton and Nathan got it on at Tim's party last summer, remember." Vegas recalled the moment in his mind and then quickly pushed it back into the recesses where it belonged.

"Whatever." Peyton sniffed, pointing her chin upwards in a sign of superiority. "I was drunk and it was a momentary lapse in judgement. I claim insanity. I don't know what your excuse is though?" She shot Nathan a dirty look which he returned with as much vigour.

"It wasn't that I was into you that's for sure." He bitched back at her. "It was for the 200 Tim bet me."

"What?" Peyton bristled, taking in the faces of her four friends.

"Yeah." Nathan gloated. "Tim bet me 200 bucks I couldn't get you to hook up with me. It was the quickest 200 I ever made."

"You're an ass!" She snapped, slamming her art book closed and causing dustings of coal and chalk to splatter over the wooden table.

"An ass who got 200 dollars richer thanks to you." He grinned. "Shame, I could do with that cash for this summer." He cocked his head to the side as he considered the state of his finances and the summer vacation he was in danger of having to cancel since his father cut him off for quitting the basketball team.

"Your dad still refusing to pay for you to come to Tijuana with us?" Jake remarked emphatically, genuinely sympathetic for his friend's family troubles. It was well known that Dan Scott was a control freak who loved to lording his power of his son.

"Yeah." He sulked, disliking the thought of spending the whole summer alone with just his father for company whilst his friends enjoying partying and boozing in Mexico without him.

"Oh I am a genius!" Vegas declared, breaking the contemplative silence of the group and disrupting a eavesdropping group of first years into hurriedly rushing away for fear of being bitched out at being caught.

"Hardly." Peyton replied in monotone, instantly disregarding any idea he could have come up with.

Vegas flipped her the bird but pledged on before she could disrupt his announcement with more of her snide remarks. "This is perfect, we get some entertainment, Brooke gets a chance to be proven right and Nathan gets some cash. Everyone's happy."

The four other occupants of the table all sat staring at him curiously. "How so?" Brooke hedged, arching a defined eyebrow up at his declaration.

"I got the idea from the Nathan/Peyton saga." The two bristled at the conjunction of their Christian names with distaste. "I propose a bet."

"A bet?" Nathan scoffed cynically.

"Yeah." He nodded, completely confident in his idea. "Brooke thinks you can't get just any girl, you do." The two brunettes shared a glance with each other before focusing back on Vegas with curiosity. "So I'm willing to agree with Brooke on this one." He sent his best friend an apologetic shrug as his mutter of traitor when he saw Peyton nod in agreement. "So I propose a bet that you can't get a girl from another clique to sleep with you by the mayor's ball." The mayor's ball was then fanciest black tie extravaganza that took place within the small town every year, it was an occasion that saw the old money mix with the new in an interesting spectacle all five had been forced into attending since they hit puberty.

"What do I get if I win?" He narrowed his eyes at his friends who all seemed enthralled by the possibility of something new.

He shared a hurried, whispered exchange with the others that resulted in four rushed nods of agreement.

"We pay for your trip to Tijuana, with expenses." He included.

Nathan contemplated the sparse information that had been divulged and picked up on the part he found most intriguing "Just any girl from another clique?" Nathan spoke up, his curiosity peaked.

Peyton scoffed in an unladylike manner at the idea. "No." She dismissed. "We pick the girl." She gestured between the group and they all beamed wider at the idea, Vegas already doing a quick scan of the vicinity for available girls.

"No lesbians!" Nathan exclaimed, foreseeing the possibility before Vegas could propose it.

"Of course not." Brooke smiled devilishly just as the bell rang out signalling the end of lunch. "So, you in?" She asked, the five of them remaining where they sat whilst everyone else scuttled off around them.

He contemplated all his other possibilities in his head before finally deciding on his answer.

"I'm in." He nodded in agreement, reaching out to shake each of their hands individually, their unique way of committing to a 'contract.'

"Great." Peyton graced them all with the irregular sight of her genuine smile. "Because I happen to have just the right girl in mind."

Nathan didn't have a good feeling about this.


	2. Wheels in motion

**AUTHORS NOTE- Sorry my updates have pretty much ground to a halt, but I'm in university now and I'm not gonna lie and pretend like I'm gonna be updating more frequently. Because I'm not. But the academic year is winding time and the workloads becoming less and fanfiction is a nice escape from that sometimes. Ergo, an update! Enjoy. And thank you everyone for your continued support and feedback, keep it coming.**

~ * ~

"Haley James."

Two simple words.

Two simple words that joined together to form a name that caused discomfort in the recesses of Nathan Scott as soon as they escaped from Peyton Sawyers lips.

"Who?" Brooke voiced the confusion felt by the majority of their dysfunctional group, her perfectly arched eyebrows creasing into a frown of thought.

"See that girl over there," Peyton nodded in the direction of the schools tutoring centre. "The girl with the brown hair and stack of books." She explained.

"The one with the questionable taste in fashion?" Brooke asked snidely, examining the petite girl, clothed in a simple pair of jeans and a poncho.

"That's the one!" Peyton chirped.

Nathan ignored the bitchy exchange made by the two females of his group about her attire, whilst Tim and Vegas studied the girl for redeeming physical qualities. Jake stood quietly by, beginning to regret their bet. He was the moral core of the group, even if his ethical thoughts came too late in the process to change anyone else's minds.

"So what's so special about her?" Brooke queried questionably, turning her attention back to the girl dominating all their thoughts.

And then the answer came for her in his own physical form, enveloping the petite brunette across the hall into a bone crushing hug.

No explanation needed by Peyton Sawyer.

A connection Nathan had made with the choice as soon as Peyton pointed her out in the crowded halls.

"Lucas Scott," Brooke remarked with a glittering smile. The most recent member of the Tree Hill Ravens and the newest object of her affections. Not to mention the illegitimate love child of Dan Scott and estranged half brother of her best male friend, Nathan.

Everyone focussed their eyes on Nathan, awaiting his reaction at the piece of information, but he already knew. He might hate his brother with every fibre of his being, and they might not live under the same roof, or even exchange conversation like most normal families. In fact they liked to pretend the other didn't exist. But even before Lucas came crashing into every important aspect of his life a month previously, forcing him off the team and into daily fights with their father, he watched the boy. He'd glance at him out of the corner of his eye out of curiosity when he passed in the hall, or when the teacher called him out in the few classes they shared. He had since they were in kindergarten, and it was difficult not to notice that only one person was always present at his side, and that was the female that had now become the object of everyone in his circles interests.

Haley James.

He didn't know much about her, only that her and Lucas seemed to have a tight friendship. He'd only found out her name by pure accident when his English teacher had pointed her out quietly during class once, insisting he seek her out for tutoring since he was in danger of failing the class. Apparently she was the best.

He hadn't approached her though of course, choosing to send his dad in to sweet talk over the failing situation and it had worked like a dream. He didn't see the point in working if he didn't have to.

"Oh, Peyton you are evil!" Brooke laughed, making the connection. "You want Nathan to seduce Haley James?"

Peyton grinned, pleased with her selection. "Yup!" She popped, slapping Nathan on the back. "Think you can handle it, hot shot?" She mocked.

Nathan narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance, fixing her with a mean spirited look. "Of course I can." He growled. "This is hardly a punishment is it? You know me, any excuse to fuck with Lucas." He smirked, tilting his head in acknowledgement at a passing team member. Or ex team member.

"You don't think this is gonna be easy do you, Scott?" Brooke licked her lips as she studied his handsome blonde brother exchange hugs and laugher with Haley James. "From the looks of it, their best friends. She's gonna be loyal to him. She's hardly gonna jump into bed and fuck you as soon as you look at her with your broody blue eyes?"

"Shame the same courtesy doesn't come from you?" Nathan snapped at her, watching as she checked out his brother unashamedly.

Brooke shrugged unapologetically. "He's hot." Was her only explanation.

Peyton watched their usual bickering exchange curiously for a moment, before redirecting her attention to the twosome of Lucas and Haley, who were now strolling down the hallway, content in their own world and conversation, arms looped together and happy smiles on their faces.

She couldn't fight back the overwhelming guilt she felt creeping into her stomach when an observation sprung to her mind. They were all responsible for the inevitable ruin of that.

*

Haley was finishing up the last of her days marking, immensely satisfied when she was able to add a tick to the final correct point made by her latest tutee. George Samson was coming along immensely she thought, allowing herself a moment to feel fleetingly proud of both their accomplishments.

She was neatly packing away the paper in question when the door to the tutor centre creeped open. She looked up from her task, expecting it to be Lucas popping in after his evening basketball practice, ready to walk her home. She was surprised to be faced with the same familiar blue eyes staring at her from a less friendly face.

She swallowed deeply, looking around at the empty room. The last tutor had left fifteen minutes earlier.

"Can I help you?" She forced out, fighting to remain aloof and unbothered by his looming presence.

He smirked at her obvious unease and held up a selection of papers, tarred with a circled F mark. "You tell me?"

"I don't mind read," she snapped, unable to restrain her anger at the boy who'd caused her best friend an unprecedented amount of grief his whole life. "What is it you want?"

Nathan's smirk widened and became genuine, secretly impressed by her fiery attitude towards him. "Tutoring." He replied simply. "You are a tutor right? And this is the tutor centre? I would have thought it was obvious."

Haley rolled her eyes at his sarcasm and threw her messenger bag over her shoulder. "Come back tomorrow morning." She suggested, unable to turn away anyone from their educational rights. "I'm sure you'll find some girl more than willing to teach you." She sniped, snatching her keys up from the desk and hoping he'd pick up on the hint that she wanted him to leave.

"I'm sure I will," he agreed cockily, noting the roll of her eyes again. "But I've come here for you."

"Well tough," Haley shrugged. "Because I don't want to tutor you." She explained briefly and to the harsh point. "Do you even know who my best friend is?" She asked, studying him curiously, wondering if he was oblivious to her existence in relation to his brother and whether he was truly that dense.

"Yeah I do," he admitted. "And I'm sorry about that." His tone was condescending and mocking, making Haley bristle in contempt.

"I'm not tutoring you!" She snapped.

Nathan slid a blue slip of paper onto the desk and pushed it in her direction. "I don't think you get much say in that." He smirked, watching as she plucked the slip from the table and studied the note and signature of their English lit teacher, instructing her that she were to bring Nathan Scott up to scratch.

Haley shredded the note in half, watching as the tiny pieces descended into the waste paper bin at her feet. "We'll see about that." She ground out, clutching her bag to her side and storming out of the door.

Haley James wasn't going down without a fight.


End file.
